"Historically, enthusiastic research and development specialists and idealist educators and social critics have heralded the arrival of each new media marvel as a cultural panacea. For example, at the dawn of this century film was celebrated as a ‘universal language’ with the potential for uniting the world with silent symbolism. After World War II television was hailed by educational psychologists as the ‘great educator,’ which would soon replace the teacher in every classroom. And in the 1960’s, portable video and cable television were viewed by some groups as a manifestation of the triumph of grass roots democracy--- a phenomenon that would end media control by the three commercial networks and restore communication to the public.

"Such "blue-sky" aspirations glossed over the importance of the bottom line for telecommunications. In the free enterprise system in the United States, equipment manufacturers, networks, cable companies, and similar businesses operate to produce revenues for owners and stockholders. Faced with an increasingly competitive environment, the result of continuously evolving technology, all telecommunication entrepreneurs must ask the following questions:

1. Is there a market for this product or service?

2. Is there a cost-effective means for producing and distributing this product or service?

3. Does this product or service have profit potential?